Inkfest, a festival celebrating tattoo art and all things body modification, will be held Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 9 and 10 at Tom’s Tavern, located at 1500 E. Third St. in Winslow. This year, Inkfest commemorates its sixth year. Organizer Lauralee Parsons said, “This festival is important to me for so many reasons. First, to be able to bring this artistic medium to Winslow is amazing. Tattoos are becoming more and more socially accepted and to watch people who are ‘professionals’ come in and be in awe of the tattoo culture is so cool to watch.” Each year, the event has grown from its humble beginnings as a Winslow Arts Council showcase. Parsons continued, “This thing started as a one day event, a few hours of a few tattoo artists showing what they had to offer. Now, we are up to 22 world class tattoo artists from all over the country, several art vendors, food trucks, live music, a pin up show and so much more. It has evolved to a much larger two, well almost three day event that is open to all ages and brings in hundreds of spectators.” The event is free to attend with doors opening at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 9 and is all ages until 7 p.m. both days. “I like to make sure there is something for everyone here, so we will be featuring temporary tattoo contests for the kids this year, little kids love that stuff and we have some fun prizes for them. This is absolutely a family friendly event.” Sunday, the doors open a little later, at 11 a.m. and entertainment and tattoos will happen until 2 a.m. both days. Anyone who is tattooed is encouraged to attend and show off their art work, according to Parsons. “We have contests where the prize goes to the person wearing the art, so their tattoo artist does not have to be at the event. All the times for the contests will be posted on our social media pages, both Facebook and Instagram.” A pin up pageant is also a highlight of the weekend and this year will showcase 20 contestants in two rounds of competition. All are welcome to watch the show which begins at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 10. “My goal with this weekend every year, is to break the stigma of tattoo culture and to show people who are curious that art can take many forms. Some of us just choose to wear ours.” All information is available on the social media pages of the event. To inquire about vending, sponsoring prizes for the pin up pageant or for assistance in scheduling an appointment with one of the many available artists, contact Lauralee Parsons at (928)587-5441.
